There’s a lot to be excited about this April if you’re hoping to add entities to your list of DXCC conquests. For our end-of-March QSL card post, we’re highlighting a few April 2025 activations along with QSL cards from the avid DX chasers at DX Engineering.
Suriname
The 40-10M SSB/CW/Digital PZ5IP DXpedition from Papegaaien Island (IOTA SA-092) is scheduled for April 1-7.
Suriname—a South American country bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, and Brazil to the south—is the 228th most-wanted DXCC entity per Clublog. At 64,000 square miles (slightly smaller than Oklahoma), Suriname is the smallest country in South America. It has a population of close to 613,000. The official spelling of its name was changed in 1978 from “Surinam” to “Suriname.”
The island of Papegaaien (the Dutch word for “parrot”) is located at the mouth of the Courantyne River, which divides Suriname and Guyana. Suriname is home to 27 native parrot species. Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received the QSL card below for reaching PZ5RA in March 2000 on 10M SSB.
Ogasawara
Toshiba Fuchu Amateur Radio Club members, as JA1YVT/JD1, will be active from Chichijima (April 2-7) and Hahajima (April 7-10) on 80-2M in SSB/CW/FT8.
Ogasawara, the 130th most-wanted DXCC entity, is comprised of 30 subtropical and tropical islands. Also known as Bonin Islands, Ogasawara lies 540 miles south of Tokyo. There are about 2,000 people living on Chichijima—a 9.1-square-mile island 150 miles north of Iwo Jima. Hahajima, the only other inhabited island of the Ogasawara Islands, has a population of around 400 and a unique selection of endangered land snail species only found on the island. Incidentally, “jima” is the Japanese word for “island.”
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, made contact with JD1BMH, who was operating from Chichijima in December 2015:
Saint Barthelemy
K6EI as FJ/K6EI and KK6IK as FJ/KK6IK are scheduled to operate from Saint Barthelemy from April 8-12 (80-10M, CW/FT4-FT8). Commonly known as Saint Barth, St. Barthelemy is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean Sea— one of four territories among the Leeward Islands that comprise the French West Indies.
With a population of nearly 10,000, the 9.7-square-mile island is a popular winter destination for vacationers, attracting 200,000 tourists annually who join the dolphins, porpoises, and whales that can be viewed during their migration period from December to May. St. Barthelemy is the 102nd most-wanted DXCC entity.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, reached TO7ZG on 40, 20, 17, 12, and 10M SSB in 2010.
Saint Helena
The ZD7PG DXpedition by GWØNGA is scheduled for April 12-19. This spare-time HF operation will be from Jamestown, the capital of St. Helena (IOTA AF-022).
This remote tropical island in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,200 miles from the southwestern coast of Africa, is a British Overseas Territory most noted as the place where Napolean Bonaparte was exiled after the Battle of Waterloo. He was taken to the island in October 1815 and died there on May 5, 1821.
Tourists to the island can visit Napoleon’s tomb and the Longwood House, where Napoleon lived while in exile. St. Helena is the 195th most-wanted DXCC entity.
Tom, KB8UUZ, contacted ZD7FT on 15M SSB in 2001.
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Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
